iMyth

Tag: iMyth

  • Fear Factory Jumps into Immersive Experience Game

    Howdy Gang!

    It would appear there is yet another additional player into the immersive experience game.

    The Fear Factory in SLC seems to be combining the concept of immersive VR with traditional Haunted houses.

    Fear Factory

    I discovered this experience while looking through the ‘Fear Factory’ article posted on Road to VR.

    The Fear Factory is this jumped up Haunted House in Salt Lake City. They partnered with a local VR retailer to add VR to the overall experience. The retailer, VR Junkies, appears to be a VR Arcade equipped with HTC Vive. If this is the case then the VR portion of the Haunted House may be very similar to the experience we are creating at iMyth.

    From the website, VR Junkies does not appear to be a production company, at least not yet. If that is the case then they will be displaying pre-created material from another third party company. Hopefilly this does much to encourage the overall demand for immersive content.

  • 9/16/16 iMyth First! Courier First Dry Run!

    Yesterday was a very exciting day for iMyth. Not only was I treated to the awesome work the artists, producers and engineers were creating, but also we had an opportunity to do the first dry run experience for the Courier. Summan rigged her proxy character to be controlled by. the WASD keys. Chunzi doned the Vive Headset and I played the interactor, Josiah Carter.

    The experience was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. It was wonderful simply because it was the first run. Yeah! We are officially creating VR immersive experiences! We have a preliminary timing of a bit longer than 7:00 minutes. It’s a start! I have a handful more of wonderful things but allow me to digress into the terrible things.

    The art assets are very proxy by now, which is to be expected. Very few of the Blueprint were functioning. The script was not finished. From a pure production perspective we still have far to go. At 7:00 minutes the experience was too short. Probably worse than anything, I don’t think the experience was fun or suspenseful for the participant. There was very little sense of immersion.

    I, however, can not view these things as negative rather than extremely positive!

    • We found out that 7:00 minutes was way too short. The participant wants and needs more time to take in the experience. 15:00 to 20:00 minutes will be outstanding!
    • The script is very important! As far as the interactor was concerned, I was pulling a performance out of my butt. In order to make this flow smoothly we have to have a truck-load of anticipated responses to stay within the narrative and stay true to the character. We will have to really iron this out in the script.
    • Sound is super important! During the experience we were treated by natural thunder. Chunzi thought this was one of the best parts of the experience!
    • Maintaining suspense, tension and curiosity will be very difficult to develop and maintain. This will take time and experience. I am super glad we are starting to work on this now. I’m not sure if anyone knows how to solve this.
    • Having the playspace mapped out 1:1 is crucial. The teleporting mechanic is awkward at best for maintaining immergence. Empowering the participant to walk around freely without concern of controller will be essential.

    This is extraordinarily exciting! Before we can be awesome we need to go through “sucky”. Bring it on! Let’s see all of these problems! let’s grind through these lessons and develop some really functioning skills. There is an epic new media in there. We are on the edge of seeing it in its full glory. This is very exciting.

  • Another Motivating Article to Support The Void

    I encountered a great article describing The Void and their operation in NYC, Trippy Ghostbuster’s Experience.

    All in all the Polygon folks seemed very excited. The Void guys described their plans for world domination. This is very exciting. Is Imyth a Wannabe? Sure! However. I have a hunch this is going to be big business. We may not be the first pioneers, but we can create great experiences!

  • Possible new Direction for the Vive

    Now this device definitely looks interesting.

    Intel Scientist Hints new Vive accessory

    Embedding function such as collision detection and hand tracking are definitely directions iMyth would wish to venture towards.

  • Improve Interactors

    It looks like the cat is out of the Bag. One of these Website VR channels had an opportunity to talk with Charlie Hughes at UCF.
    In the the article they constant refer to the use of interactors. More specifically the article addresses the use of “smart” puppets for controlling multiple interactors at the same time. This is very similar to what we have proposed.

    Check out this article, The Wizard of Oz Narrates.

  • iMyth Post 4/29

    I figured I had better be documenting iMyth progress as things move along.

    I suppose I have been lax in doing so:

    • 4/25 – My Vive arrives via Fed-Ex. No one is home to receive it :(.
    • 4/26 – AT the end of the work day, I high-tail it to the Fed-Ex depot and pick up my Vive.
      • Yeah!
    • 4/27 – After spending the bulk of the day with class and students, I start focusing on installing my Vive. It does not work. I put together an impassioned message to Vive Support explaining my dilemma.
    • 4/28 – Muchos meetings all morning. AFter getting back from the meetings, I install the Vive on the Galley PC. It works! The Vive experience is pretty awesome!
    • 4/29 – I try to apply the feedback I received from Vive Support. To make a long story short, my computer is not VR compatible. After all this time I thought it was :(. Boy do I look silly. I Guess that sort of explains why the Occulus refused to work on my machine as well. Bryant, the fello from CAH says my iMyth machine will be arriving from Alienware today. Gotta keep my fingers crossed.

  • Disney Escape Games

    Hoo wee, I’m really excited about this post. This is all about Disney getting into the Escape Game business.

    This opportunity does give further confirmation that iMyth is on the right track.

    While iMyth is not chasing after the escape game market per se, we are pursuing the immersive theme world market which seems to be the evolutionary next step. Escape games 2.0 and beyond!

    Disney has:

    • Immersive Physical experiences
    • Collaboration with multiple participants and groovy interactors

    The only thing they don’t have is variability and randomness. According to their description, “Although this particular event was themed to the idea of “preserving time,” The Escape Challenge can be completely customized and tailored to fit any group’s event theme, message or objective. The specially constructed set is fully mobile and transportable, meaning it can be built and installed in function space available onsite a Disney convention resort or theme park event venue.” This may be an indication the Disney is starting to work customization and variability into the experience as well. Whether or not they are setting the stage for emergent narrative has yet to be seen.

    I really want to check this out.

    Here is the link to Disney Website.

     

  • Tosca AI Engine

    Part of my research and definitely a focus of iMyth is to be a generator of immersive theme world experiences. These experiences are not games but on-going interactions between the participant the current theme world. The theme world evolves and adjusts to ensure a rewarding and enriching experience for the participant.

    With that thought in mind, enter in the Tosca AI engine created by a Canadian company, Evodant. I was turned on to them through the Gammasutra article, How one studio is building game AI to replicate a human storyteller. The article goes on explaining the goals and ideals of Evodant as they create the Tosca AI engine and their new game, Gyre:Maelstrom to show it off. Ultimately Tosca listens to the participant and watches their activities. From these behaviors, the engine creates subtext in which to influence the participant’s experience unique doctored for that individual. This is just the sort of tool, I believe iMyth is working towards. Combined with Grammar based Universes, technology such as this will help shape the experiences of tomorrow.

  • Experiences First!

    A couple of web article have come out over the last couple days which are really inspiring.

    In a few days, Activity on this web site will slow down in favor for the development of the iMyth experience. The iMyth experience is exactly just that, an immersive, theme world experience. This is not a game. This is not a story. However, this doesn’t mean that one cannot derive narrative or a competitive score while immersed in the experience. These are serendipitous bi-products which may occur but are never the primary focus.

    Evidence of this is expressed in the Upload to VR article, What the Billionaire saw in the Void. Instead of focusing on the sensational aspects of the experience, the article focus closer on the experiential side effects. There is a great quote in the article form Curtis Hickman, the lead designer for the experience, “People in The Void don’t want to rush, they want to take their time and absorb the experience,” Hickman said. “The Void is the exact opposite of where the rest of VR seems to be heading. We don’t see ourselves as making games, we see ourselves as making experiences.”

    In an entirely unrelated article, also from Upload to VR, The VR Scene Is Growing and Getting Weirder, there is a very interesting documentary about legendary film maker Phil Tippet and his experience with VR. In A nutshell, the video displayed Tippet encountering the VR media as less of a story telling devise as an experiential generator. In fact, there was a point in the interview where he found it necessary to abandon linear narrative entirely in lieu of the opportunity presented by this new media format.

  • Potential Customers for IMyTH Engine Technologies

    Chris McCann helped out the IMyTH group today in identifying some of the major players in the VR industry. The IMyTH engine is focused on generating immersive theme worlds and the companies mentioned in his article will provide a quick starting point to identify all of the potential customers the IMyTH engine can reach to:

    Devices

    • Oculus VR — Bought by facebook for $2B
    • HTC Vive — partnered with Valve also creating the Steam VR platform.
    • Sony’s Project Morpheus — VR system by Sony, will also be connected to the PS4 VR Platform
    • Samsung’s Gear VR
    • Google Cardboard — Low end VR system using your smartphone.
    • StarVR — headset with an ultra-wide field of view
    • Visbox — Cave VR system (VR within whole room)
    • Fove — developing an eye tracking virtual reality headset — Raised an unreported amount, announced on June 25, 2015
    • Sulon Technologies– combines both VR and AR in one device- No funding reported yet, won top heads up display in CES.

    Controllers

    • Virtuix Omni — Treadmill for VR, used with Oculus — Raised $7M, announced on December 10th, 2014
    • Nod Labs — controller and tracking device for VR — $16M announced on June 17, 2015
    • virZOOM — turns a stationary bike into VR controller — Raised $1.83M announced on April 16, 2015
    • Leap Motion — motion control for VR — Raised $44M, announced on January 3, 2013.
    • Oculus Touch — Made by Oculus
    • Sixense — wireless motion tracking controller — Raised $600K on Kickstarter on October 12, 2013
    • Valve Controllers — Made by Valve for the HTC Vive
    • Cyberith — VR controller that lets you run, jump, rotate, and crouch — no funding reported yet.
    • Tactical Haptics — produces the Reactive Grip Motion Controller- no funding reported yet.
    • ControlVR — Lets you control using your hands and motion instead of keyboard — Raised $400K on Kickstarter, announced on July 5, 2014
    • Pebbles Interfaces— Develops hand-tracking technologies — Raised $11.5M, Announced on August 1st, 2013. Recently bought by Oculus.

    Cameras / 3D Mapping

    • Jaunt VR — professional grade camera system for capturing VR experiences — Raised $35M, announced on August 21st, 2014
    • Otoy — Full pipeline for creating, rendering, and streaming 3D environments. Amount raised unreported from Yuri Milner and Autodesk – advisors include Eric Schmidt, Ari Emanuel, and more
    • Structure.io — capture the 3D world via smartphone — Raised $8M, announced on October 20th, 2013
    • hover.to — create 3D models from your smartphone — Raised $12.7M announced on August 7, 2014
    • Kolor — Create 3D words from 2D images and videos — Bought by GoPro
    • VideoStitch — VideoStitch develops video stitching software to create Live Virtual Reality Video content. — Raised $2.25M seed
    • Matterport — Reconstruct real world spaces in VR — Raised $58.3M, announced on June 25, 2015
    • Panorics — develops fully immersive 360-degree video technology and products — Raised an unreported amount of funding.

    Developer Tools

    • Unity — Development platform, supporting VR development.
    • Unreal Engine — Game development platform, supporting VR.
    • WorldViz— Produces Vizard VR toolkit — Raised $3.5M announced on April 14th, 2015
    • GameWorks VR — Developer platform by NVIDIA
    • OSVR — open sourced hardware and software platform for VR
    • High Fidelity — Open sourced software for deploying VR spaces — Raised $16M announced on February 11, 2015 (founded by Philip Rosedale who started Second Life)

    Content (Producing VR experiences/games)

    • Game studios developing games for VR — Insomniac Games, Ubisoft, CCP, Gunfire games, 4A Games, Carbon Games, Climax, Harmonix, High Voltage Software, Ready at Dawn, Otherworld Interactive, and Square Enix, Thotwise
    • Here is a long list of games that or will be compatible with VR.
    • Reload Studios — is an independent game studio developing VR games — $2M on June 3, 2015
    • nDreams — Game developer specializing in VR — Raised $2.75M, announced on January 19th, 2015
    • Visionary VR — a technology and content development studio — Raised $350K announced on March 4th, 2015
    • NextVR — captures and delivers live and on-demand virtual reality experiences (concerts, movies, sports) — Raised $5M, announced on September 9th, 2014
    • The VR Company — Studio producing experiences, Steven Spielberg is an advisor — Raised $2.1M announced on May 29, 2015.
    • VRse — Producers of VR content for filmmaking
    • Livelike VR — VR production focused on live sports content — Raised $200,000 announced on January 27, 2015
    • spaceVR — Experience what space flight feels like (sounds pretty cool).
    • Felix & Paul Studios — developing VR content and content tied to Hollywood blockbusters

    Social network / Content platforms

    • Littlstar — aggregates virtual reality content — Raised $120K announced on July 9, 2015
    • Wear VR — content platform and app store for VR experiences — Raised $1.5M announced on April 8, 2015
    • AltspaceVR — Experience things on the web (shows, concerts, movies) in VR with other people — Raised $5.2M announced on September 14th, 2014
    • Vrideo — Youtube like network for VR experiences — Raised seed round, unreported.
    • EmergentVR — User generated content of VR — Raised unreported amount on January 21, 2015

    Education

    • Woofbert — providing art-education through VR — $2.78M on June 1st, 2015
    • zspace — VR for STEM education — Raised $26.6M announced on March 19th, 2015
    • Discovr — exploring ancient worlds through VR — No funding reported
    • drashvr — Produces educational VR apps — No funding reported

    Medical

    • Psious — uses virtual environments to treat anxiety disorders — No reported funding
    • Deepstream VR— using VR games for rehabilitation and treating pain — No reported funding
    • MindMaze — developing VR experiences for medical recovery (ex. post-stroke) — Raised $8.5 announced on March 4, 2015
    • Vivid Vision — designing games to correct amblyopia (lazy eye) as well as strabismus (crossed eye) in virtual reality — Raised $50K, announced on January 21, 2014

    Business / Enterprise tools

    • insiteVR — Designer tools within VR — Raised $120,000 from YCombinator, announced on March 15th, 2015
    • IrisVR — 3D modeling tools within VR — Raised $2.53M, announced on July 8, 2015
    • SDK Lab — Create VR experiences for employee training (mining, drilling, etc) — No reported funding.
    • Inreal Technologies — VR tools for architects — Raised seed round, unreported.
    • Autodesk — Also experimenting with VR tools and experiences for manufacturing, real estate, etc.

    There are a couple of industries which are not accounted for  in the Theme Park and Military simulation Industries. These are two areas which being in central Florida can help out significantly.customers